by James Lynne

Created on: March 09, 2009   Last Updated: March 13, 2009

St. Patrick's day superstitions are as colorful as the Emerald Isle itself, and as fanciful as the mythical Leprechaun with his legendary pot of gold. On St. Patrick's Day, superstition, legend, myth and truth become all wrapped up in each other. St. Patrick's Day, a worldwide day of remembrance for Ireland's patron saint, is well known as a day of superstitious revelry.

Most Irish superstitions have something to do with receiving luck or wealth if you perform a particular action, such as wearing green, wearing a shamrock, catching a Leprechaun, rubbing a potato, throwing spilled salt over your left shoulder, or finding a four-leafed clover. Because St. Patrick is Ireland's patron saint, and is the focus of Irish tradition, many of Ireland's superstitions seem to surface in relation to St. Patrick's Day celebrations worldwide. It's virtually impossible, though to separate Irish superstitions from St. Patrick's Day because St. Patrick's Day has become the symbol of all things Irish.

Catholicism has historically intertwined its beliefs with pagan beliefs and cultures as part of its missionary efforts. Patrick, a Catholic missionary to Ireland, is credited with converting the pagan Celts and Druids of ancient Ireland to Christianity. Many St. Patrick's Day superstitions can be traced back to Celtic or Druid tradition that preceded Ireland's conversion. As a result we celebrate St. Patrick, the Christian, simultaneously with pagan, folkloric superstition on March 17, the day of his death. Whatever their origin most people today take St. Patrick's Day or Irish superstitions as good-hearted fun rather than as credible beliefs. A little Irish revelry is good for the Christian soul on St. Patrick's Day.

It is important, though, to distinguish between superstition, legend, and tradition in any discussion of Irish olklore. Although similar in some ways, superstition, legend, and tradition are not the same. For instance, it is a superstition that if you wear green on St. Patrick's Day you'll have good luck, and if you don't your luck will sour. The belief that something good or bad will occur because of a particular behavior is what makes a superstition different from a tradition or a legend. Wearing green on St. Patrick's day is a tradition because we do it over and over again each year. Believing that if you don't, something bad will happen makes it into a superstition. The story of St. Patrick's driving the poisonous snakes out of Ireland is a legend. It makes a nice

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